MOCKING-BIRD. 23 



get out. The.se birds, however, bv proper treatment may be brought to 

 sing perhaps superior to those raised by hand, and cost less trouble. 

 The opinion which the naturalists of Europe entertain of the great diffi- 

 culty of raising the Mocking-bird, and, that not one in ten survives, is 

 very incorrect. A person called on me a few days ago, with twenty- 

 nine of these birds, old and young, which he had carried about the fields 

 with him for several days, for the convenience of feeding them while 

 engaged in trapping others. He had carried them thirty miles, and 

 intended carr^'ing them ninety-six miles farther, viz., to New York ; and 

 told me, that he did not expect to lose one out of ten of them. Cleanli- 

 ness, and regularity in feeding, are the two principal things to be 

 attended to, and these rareW fail to succeed. 



The eagerness with which the nest of the Mocking-bird is sought after 

 in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, has rendered this bird extremely 

 scarce for an extent of several miles around the city. In the country 

 round Wilmington and Newcastle, they are very numerous, from whence 

 they are frequently brought here for sale. The usual price of a singing 

 bird is from seven to fifteen, and even twenty dollars. I have known 

 fifty dollars paid for a remarkably fine singer ; and one instance where 

 one hundred dollars were refused for a still more extraordinary one. 



Attempts have been made to induce these charming birds to pair, and 

 rear their young in a state of confinement, and the result has been such 

 as to prove it, by proper management, perfectly practicable. In the 

 spring of 1808, a Mr. Klein, living in North Seventh street, Philadel- 

 phia, partitioned ofi" about twelve feet square in the third story of his 

 house. This was lighted by a pretty large wire-grated window. In the 

 centre of this small room he planted a cedar bush, five or six feet high, 

 in a box of earth ; and scattered about a sufficient quantity of materials 

 suitable for building. Into this place a male and female Mocking-bird 

 were put, and soon began to build. The female laid five eggs, all of 

 which she hatched, and fed the young with great afl'ection until they 

 were nearly able to fly. Business calling the proprietor from home, for 

 two weeks, he left the birds to the care of his domestics ; and on his 

 return found, to his great regret, that they had been neglected in food. 

 The young ones were all dead, and the parents themselves nearly 

 famished. The same pair have again commenced building this season, 

 in the same place, and have at this time, July 4, three young likely to 

 do well. The place might be fitted up with various kinds of shrubbery, 

 so as to resemble their native thickets ; and ought to be as remote from 

 noise and interruption of company as possible, and strangers rarely 

 allowed to disturb or even approach them. 



The Mocking-bird is nine and a half inches long, and thirteen in 

 breadth. Some individuals are, however, larger, and some smaller, 



